Cape Town, South Africa – The rain won the day at The Glen tennis courts where a titanic battle between top seeds France and Germany (2) ensued in the Suzanne Lenglen Cup (W35) competition on Thursday at the 37th edition of the ITF Young Seniors World Team Championships in Cape Town, South Africa.
As a result, the tie was not completed and the doubles clash will be decided on Friday after the teams were locked at 1-all after the two singles matches.
France’s Magali Malbet gave her side a 1-0 lead after she defeated Germany’s Andrea Fischer 6-4 6-1 in a match that was far more keenly contested than the final scoreline suggests.
Malbet had to overcome “nerves” and the start and it did not her case that Fischer had found her rhythm early in the contest.
“My nerves at the start didn’t quite allow me to move freely and on top of it, my opponent wasn’t making mistakes,” Malbet said afterwards.
“Fischer just managed to keep the ball in the court all the time and soon I was trailing 3-4.
“Once I managed a service break my game started improving all the time and I went on to close out the first set 6-4.
“In the second set, Fischer’s wasn’t quite at her best and she really battled. At the same time, I started playing better as the set wore on.
“I started coming to the net more often because my volleys were working well and soon it was all over at 6-1.”
Germany struck back in the next singles match for a 1-all stalemate after which it started raining.
The tie will be completed on Friday morning and the outcome will have a direct bearing on the 2017 destiny of the Suzanne Lenglen Cup.
Once the doubles match is completed, France will go up against The Netherlands (2), who defeated Germany 2-1 on Wednesday.
At the Green Point Tennis Club courts, the South African M45 team attracted a fair crowd and after a promising start by Clinton Richards in the opening singles, the sixth-seeded Swedes fought back to prevail 2-1.
Richards won a protracted match against the Swede Henrik Hobik 6-1 1-6 7-6(5).
Afterwards, Richards said a change of tactics allowed him to close out the match on a high.
“I played up a storm in the opening set but in the second he (Hobik) found his range and I really struggled to cope with his big shots,” said Richards.
“In the third, I changed the pace and it worked for a while when I went ahead 3-1 but then he stormed back into the game to take a 5-4 lead.
“I managed to break serve after a long game and then it went with serve until the tiebreak.
“In the tiebreak, I was in serious trouble when I dropped consecutive serves and by then it was becoming an all-out mental battle.
“I knew that I had to stay mentally strong and that’s what I did and then won match point with a cheeky drop shot!”
However, South Africa capitulated in the remaining two matches as Sweden claimed the tie 2-1.
Friday’s M45 medal match will see France (1) and Netherlands (2) fight it out for the Dubler Cup while Germany (5) and unseeded Canada will be looking for a third-place finish.
Over at the Pinelands Tennis Club, the teams were battling for the best of the minor placings in the Young Cup (W40) competition.
There were seven teams in action and Germany fared the best to round off their 2017 campaign with a 9th place finish over defeating Ireland 3-0.
In Friday’s final, Spain, last year’s winners, go up against France, last year’s runners-up.
The Netherlands and Great Britain will fight it out for the remaining medal placing in the third/fourth play-off.
At the Kelvin Grove courts, the base of the M35 teams, Germany, the fifth seeds, went out on a high with a 3-0 win over Australia to clinch a tournament-ending 7th place.
Mozambique ended their debut at the tournament with the wooden spoon after they were pipped by India, the eventual 2-1 winners.
However, the Africans did manage their first singles win when Bruno Figueiredo dispatched India’s Aditya Khanna 6-2 6-1.
In Friday’s championship match, Great Britain and France will be looking to annexe the Italia Cup. It will mark a step up for Britain after they finished third last year.
Spain and Netherlands, last year’s finalists, will play in the other medal match.
At the Western Province Cricket Club courts, seventh seeds USA toppled eighth seeds Sweden after winning the doubles match.
Their 2-1 win assures the USA of a 7th place finish.
France, the defending Tony Trabert Cup champions, and Spain will face up in Friday’s final. Spain turned in a vastly improved performance at this year’s event after a 7th place finish last year.
Germany and The Netherlands (last year’s runners-up) will be fighting it out for the remaining medal.
Australia (8) and Sweden (7) ended their W45 campaigns at the Western Province Tennis courts on a matchwinning note.
They finished 2-1 winners against Switzerland and Turkey respectively.
Spain and South Africa will be in the hunt for Margaret Court Cup and the local interest will be huge.
Spain lifted the cup last year in Croatia where they were the fifth seeds.
USA and France have reached the third/fourth medal play-off match.
France will be looking to at least match their feat of last year when they ended third.